A donation of US$565 million has been offered to the Port of Dar es Salaam which will be used to expand and modernise the port.
The World Bank and the British Department for International Development (DfID) are providing the money in the form of grants and loans.
Ros Cooper, the acting head of DfID Tanzania said after the official signing: “The Port of Dar es Salaam is arguably Tanzania’s most important infrastructure asset, hence future growth of the economy depends on the port’s ability to improve, to become more efficient and to be able to handle more trade.”
Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the World Bank Group managing director, has asked the Tanzanian government to source more private sector involvement.
Tanzanian Transport Minister Harrison Mwakyembe said: “We believe that this programme will turn around the port.”
Dar es Salaam Port handles around US$15 billion worth of goods a year – the equivalent of 60% of Tanzania’s GDP in 2012.